A Journey Towards Acceptance
by DisguisedasInnocent
Summary: AU in the Naruto Verse with Sakura as the main character. Haruno Sakura has been alone since her eighth birthday, she struggles to find her place in a world that seems as if it would rather she didn't exist. Themes of child neglect, violence, and ninjas.
1. A Story Retold

**Author's Note: Dear readers. this not the first time that I have written a Naruto story, however it will be the first one that I have published. Because my beta hasn't watched Naruto before it hasn't been beta'ed by her, so I take full responsibility for my mistakes. Please review to tell me what I'm doing wrong, and I hope you enjoy the story.**

**P.S. I'm not sure how often this is going to be updated!**

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Haruno Sakura: The Journey For Acceptance.

Chronicles from the Land of Water:

Chapter One: A Story Retold.

The third Hokage had been an old man before the last great Ninja wars had struck, but now after the loss of the Fourth he was even older, and possibly even wiser. He told stories now to the youngest generation of Konohagakure – he told them about the wars and the battles, of the heroes and the villains and he told them about the greatest danger that Konoha had ever faced – and of course the greatest hero that had ever come to it's defence. The story of the Kyuubi Kitsune's attack on the Hidden Village of the Leaves was legendary, and so it was one of the children's favourites. In the way that classic fairy-tales were it included a demon so powerful it looked invincible and a hero so strong that he managed to conquer the beast.

In the end though that didn't because the hero died doing his duty towards his home and the people that he ruled. Most of the children that the Third told to story to now were not alive when it happened six years before, but there was one who each and every time the story came around sat with tears collecting in her eyes and a sadness that even the old Hokage could not understand. He imagined that she was remembering something terrible every time – picturing the events that happened that day; the blood and the horror. Every time he saw a tear trail down her pale cheek he would wonder for a moment if she remembered the coppery metallic taste of blood in her mouth, but then he would question himself as to why she should remember anything at all.

He watched her whenever the story was told. He watched as she rocked herself silently when he spoke about the village burning and the cries of people trapped within the homes, he watched as she dug her fingernails into her forearms when he mentioned the shinobi that were lost defending their homes and their families trying to halt the advance of the beast. He opened stared at the girl when tears dripped off her chin and onto the carpet silently whenever he spoke about the way that the Fourth Hokage stood aboard his giant summon in the path of the demon declaring that he would end the battle. Then, then he would watch as she dried her tears and schooled her face to one of indifference like she had never been crying in the first place when the story ended; beast and man dead.

The little girl's name was Haruno Sakura of the Haruno Clan. Once a chan that was strong and powerful within the village of Konohagakure, but now it was a lot like the other clans. It had been almost totally destroyed in the battle between the beast and the village; almost all of the members of the clan were dead, lost in the battles of the war and between the beast. The clan had lost so much that now they lived in a complex that was meant to house thousands and instead was home to barely a hundred.

Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, often sat in his offices in the evening after he had shared the story and wondered why the girl was the only one to cry at it. In the end he came to the conclusion that she cried because she had been there – or at least a part of her had been there and could remember – for when the story said that the beast was dead along with the Fourth the story lied. The Fourth had died sealing the beast away from the rest of the village and he had done so in the body of a tiny newborn baby born of his dead wife. The baby's name was Sakura. Haruno Sakura was the baby that the demon was sealed in and so Hiruzen wondered if the demon had somehow shared it's memories of the event with the little girl.

The Third watched Haruno Sakura a lot over the coming years; especially after the death of the rest of her clan.

He had found them to be foolish minded men and women. They had thought that if they destroyed the girl that then their problems would be over and they would be able to get on with their lives like before the battle. They thought that she would allow herself to be held against her will and killed because she housed the demon that destroyed the village. Sakura was eight when she was forced to defend herself against the entirety of the other one hundred members of her clan. She was eight when she was forced to taste blood on her tongue again as she wept for the men and women that had tried to kill her.

The soft pallet pink haired girl had sat amongst the flames as her house burnt down around her crying for the people that had long since betrayed her. She sat there as blood trickled down her body from the cuts that now adorned her, and as the flames licked at her skin, the moisture sizzling as it came into contact with the intense heat. With her hands the girl had torn at the building's foundations crying and begging for a way to turn back time, and all the while the flames of her family's hate licked and caressed her body. She sat there and begged for a chance to do everything again – because she didn't want to die but she didn't want to be forced to defend herself either. In the end her family had tricked her into releasing the tentative control she kept over the beast inside and attacked her. In the end she survived with the burden of guilt resting squarely on her shoulders – because she had lived.

Hiruzen watched as the years passed by and ate away at her flesh and body transforming her into a proud but introverted young teenager from a scrawny shy child. In a lot of ways her years were not marked by the growth of her body or the fact that a period of time had passed. Instead the years were marked by the scars that accumulated on her skin – the deepest and most visible of which was a five inch long gash that extended from the inside of her left eyebrow and down over the bridge of her nose. The scar was half an inch at it's widest point but even so there was no way that anyone looking at the girl would miss it. Yet she didn't care and carried on. She always carried on, which was a trait that Hiruzen found himself respecting and liking about the young girl.

Chapter One: A Fox in Sheep's Clothing.

Konohagakure looked quiet from where the pink haired girl was sat, stretched above the streets of the village with her face looking at the stars as she sat on the roof of her house. The stars reflected in the girl's eyes as she stared up at them from onto of her roof wondering if they would look as beautiful as they did from closer, or if their beauty was in their magnificence from far away. The pink haired girl knew a lot about watching things for a distance because the villagers that lived in her home town never allowed any of them to get close to her - the girl figured that for some reason she was different, but even knowing that it was hard to take that she was being judged on something that she didn't know. Some of the people that lived in the village made an effort to pretend that she was normal, like Iruka-sensei however there was times when even he managed to slip up and make the young girl feel something less than human.

The girl wondered idly as she turned her face away from the moon, casting a shadow over her eyes, if she was even human. Maybe she was a monster and that was why the people of her village were scared of her, maybe that was why her nightmares were filled with the images of a bloody battlefield on which she stood standing over the fallen warriors a euphoric kind of glee bubbling just underneath the surface.

The girl's emerald eyes watched the edge of the forest, spotting the places were the animals had cut through the edge of the trees and barrelled over the land in search of somewhere to sleep at night. Normally the forest was quiet at this time of night but now it was full of noise in a way that disconcerted the girl so used to silence.

It was the time of night when the day animals would be curling up in their dens to sleep and the night animals would be starting to come out to hunt and to feed. The pink haired girl called it the change over, when the types of animal would change over - one would wake and the other would go to sleep.

The girl had learned a long time ago to watch the forest, the stories that the villagers told their children were never passed directly onto her but she knew them anyway, she knew that the dangerous creatures came out of the forest at night. Though if she understood the half concealed whispers from the people that she knew hated her than she knew she was one of the supposed dangers of the forest.

The pink haired child knew that the villagers expected her to leap out at them from the shadows and devour everything they knew and held precious - but that was her drive to protect them. She wanted to prove to the people that lived in her village that she was actually a good person and she didn't deserve the treatment that they had bought down upon her. In the end she was sure that it wouldn't really change their minds that she watched over the village at night, but at the same time she knew that she'd always do it to protect the people that mattered to her.

The girl turned her face away from the shadows and looked into the light again, thinking idly about the next day. Tomorrow was the day that the Genins in the academy would take the final exams to become actual fully fledged genin shinobi. Tomorrow was also one of the days that the villagers hatred of the young girl would show through the most because even though she knew the techniques to pass the exams, and she was the best at the theory work, she was going to fail because of the biased ways of the other sensei that would be judging the exam with Iruka.

The girl sat watching the edge of the forest waiting for the sun to rise over the horizon until she slipped off the roof top and down into the maze that was her home compound. It was the compound that belonged to her family, and since her eighth birthday it had been the place where she lived completely on her own.

Her eighth birthday had been the worst that the girl could remember. She'd come home expecting her family to be proud of her for passing the exams that year and being told that she was progressing well in the school, but once she had arrived there were nothing but stares of contempt towards her and the looks that told the girl that she was hated by the people that she loved the most. Only her adopted brother had stood tall amongst the people of their clan and said that he was proud of her. He was the only one that told her that she was worth something that day and he was also the only one that told her happy birthday. The day had turned from bad to worse then the people that she loved as a family had turned their backs on her. She didn't get any birthday present that year - but she wasn't really expecting one either.

The pink haired girl had laid that evening in her bedroom, away from the rest of her family and cried because for another year she would be looked at as if she was a menace and a plague on her family. She would be hated for something that she didn't even remember, and that hurt her.

The girl vaguely remembered the events of the next few hours, but instead of memories they were more like the flashes of photographs that were ingrained on her memory. She remembered the adults taking her from her bedroom and bringing her to one of the large halls in one of the many buildings in the compound, and she also remembered the looks on a few of the men's faces as they stared at her with looks of utter hate and loathing. She remembered vaguely the feeling that something was very off about the entire situation but she wasn't sure what it was and so kept her mouth shut.

The next image that she could call upon was the victorious grin on the man's face just after he had sliced her nose over the nose, shredding her face to pieces under the glass. She remembered feeling dizzy as the blood rushed out of her body through the cut veins and staring at the man as she tried to see him through the haze of blood that was covering her vision. Part of her remembered asking the man why, but another part of her the stronger part remembered nothing but darkness and pain.

In the morning she awoke in the Hokage's tower wrapped in bandages from head to foot with the old man sat at the foot of her bed watching over her. He told her that her family was dead, and that parts of their compound had been burned to the ground.

Since that day the girl had lived alone in a compound meant for hundreds. She was used to being alone.


	2. Beginnings

Chapter Two: Beginnings.

The ground underneath her feet was crumbly – the sun had sucked the moisture out of it in the long months with little rain – a small breeze blew past stirring up the dust and swirling it around her feet. The leaves on the trees swayed with the movement of the wind, the branches swinging back and forth flexing as the forces acted upon them. The sun was barely creeping over the horizon, casting long shadows on the ground that would shorten as it rose up into the sky, but for now it only managed to change the inky blackness of the sky at night into a pale red and orange glow as if the clouds had been set alight by the heat of the sun.

The girl's bright emerald eyes glanced out of the darkness towards the sun before she slipped into a window on the side of one of the tallest buildings inside the compound. The sun hit the window moments after the girl's slight body passed through the gap – the window sliding closed just as the first rays of light started to pass through it.

On the wooden floorboards made no sound as the girl's footsteps crossed it, only the slight whoosh of air as her feet were placed down betrayed her position to an outside observer. However this was her home, the bedroom that she expertly crept across her own; she avoided every one of the warped floorboards so that they wouldn't screech loudly and she made sure to miss the spots on the floor where the boards were loose from age and weathering. The emerald orbs glanced at the well made bed, pondering another night of miss use for the wooden structure before she dropped down onto the edge of it and stared at the ceiling.

Minutes ticked by slowly, the girl was totally unaware of the passing of time though, taking in the grooves that ran across the ceiling of her bedroom. Her eyes closed for a few moments, and then her chest began to rise and fall rhythmically as she drifted off to sleep.

Visions of fire crossed her mind as she tossed from side to side in the bed, no longer breathing deeply and evenly but panting in exertion as if she had been trying to run, but was unable to. Pain seared across her face, she gasped hard once before bolting upright in her bed and panting quickly trying to get her breathing to return to a semblance of normal.

Running a slight tanned hand across her own forehead the girl sighed softly, shaking her head and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. One look at the sky outside her window told the girl that she had managed little more than an hour of sleep that night – but it was always the same on the anniversary of her death. The death of her clan, the death that she had brought about continued to haunt the girl even years after it had happened.

The girl had taken to spending most of the night awake – watching over the animals that had found a home inside some parts of the deserted compound distracting herself from the thoughts of the night of her eighth birthday. The Hokage had believed that she had come to terms with her role in the deaths of her family, but she hadn't really; she just understood that there was nothing she could do about it now.

Her feet touched the cold floorboards sending a shiver throughout her entire body, once the shudder had passed the girl climbed to her feet properly, padding over the cool wooden floorboards towards her wardrobe. Today was an important day after all, the final test for the Genin teams was being held during the morning, and she didn't want to give the senseis any reason for failing her again. Though because of who she is the girl had a feeling that whoever was judging with Iruka would find some reason to make sure that she wasn't allowed to pass, it always happened.

Throwing open the doors to her wardrobe the girl fished through the garments that were hung upon hangers that she rarely touched – memories from her childhood that reminded her of the events that happened during that period of her life. Some of the clothes that lived in her wardrobe had belonged to her older step-brother, he'd looked out for her when she had been unable to look out for herself. Most of the clothes were battered and beaten, but over the years the girl had grown more and more into the clothes that had once belonged to her brother.

Today the pink haired child drew a set of his clothes out of the wardrobe; an old battered midnight blue baggy t-shirt that was slightly too big on her frame, but she wore all the time because even after all the years that had passed it still smelled like her big brother, a pair of tight black shorts that clung to her frame like a second skin and a pair of slightly baggy black shorts along with a belt to keep them on her hips. From a draw next to the wardrobe the girl bug out a fish net style wire t-shirt that would go underneath her brother's t-shirt along with a roll of white tape that would be strapped around her right thigh above her shorts to allow her kunai holster to be attached properly.

The girl stripped out of her clothes, leaving herself dressed in only her tight black tank top bra and a pair of panties. Walking over to the floor length mirror the girl slowly brought her eyes up and looked at her body. On her legs there were numerous pink lines that were the newest cuts and scraps that she had received from the villagers along with many white and faded lines that were old scars, lifting her eyes the emerald focused in on the large gash that covered her stomach – the jagged edges cutting across the muscular surface. Emerald eyes slowly lifted up taking in the shape of small breasts before they drifted up her neck and finally fell on her own face. Unknowingly she kept her gaze from her own eyes, tracing the edges of the scar covering her nose before her gaze locked on herself, staring deeply into the swirling emerald green pools that seemed to be filled with pain and regret about something. The girl twisted away from those eyes – the eyes that never lied.

Pulling herself away from the mirror the girl slowly pulled her clothes onto her slim graceful frame; securing the belt around her hips and attaching the weapons pouch onto the side, tugging her wire shirt over her head until it covered the tank top bra that she wore before sliding on her brother's oversized t-shirt. Sitting down on the edge of her own bed the girl wrapped white tape around her right thigh, taking the kunai holster and strapping it to her thigh over the tape, making sure it was tight and secure before standing again. Smoothing down the creases in the material of her t-shirt the girl took a deep breath – taking in her brother's scent once more before turning and heading to her window. Sliding the pane open the girl leap out gracefully onto her balcony before sliding it shut again.

The girl looked behind her into the room for a moment before quickly pulling herself onto the roof of her complex and darting away from her house over the rooftops; tiles and wood making little noise underneath her feet as she went. The shinobi sandals perfectly designed to make little noise when moving quickly and across all different kinds of terrain, after all it wouldn't be much good for a shinobi to have sandals that made little noise on dirt, but made a racket as soon as they came into contact with concrete or tile.

Darting over the rooftops the girl watched for any signs of movement amongst the buildings, but as usual there was nothing but the animals. The emerald eyed girl turned her attention to the sky indeed, picking out the fluffy clouds that would turn into heavy rain filled clouds over the course of the day – and the ones that would descend down and become a fog that would cover the entire city. Tonight she would be forced indoors, unless she wished to get soaked to her skin in the downpour.

Once she reached the end of her compound the girl jumped down lightly onto the path and began following the dusty dirt track into town; she had long since learnt that the villagers preferred it if she didn't make a scene or being attention to herself, and one way to do that was to blend in with the crowd. A sharp breeze blew past the girl, picking up her pastel pink hair and blowing it about in front of her face before dying back. The girl smiled for a brief moment before tucking the lock of hair back behind her ear and schooling her face into one of indifference and solemness.

The pinkette's trip through the centre of Konoha was packed with hate filled glares, shoves and pushes that were meant to knock her over or at least get her annoyed; but she endured them indifferently, not particularly caring what the villagers did. The girl could always pick out the men that had hurt her from the crowd – there was one with his arm possessively around his wife's shoulders, escorting her through the market place with an air of superiority making it's way into his behaviour. He'd caused the scar across her stomach.

He had been drunk, and his girlfriend as she was when Sakura was ten, had been threatening to break up with him over something stupid. He'd drunk the night away before waking up the next morning and bumping into the pink haired girl as she walked meekly through the market place in order to get to the academy. The man had slashed at her with the broken bottom of a beer bottle; it had only been her fast reactions which meant that she was able to move as far away from the attack as possible. When she had finally walked into class that morning she passed out in front of Iruka's desk, blood seeping through her shirt.

There were others in the crowd that had been part of some event which caused the pink haired girl pain, but she didn't care about that. In her eyes it had made her strong enough to protect herself, and now the people would for the most part leave her along – thought she was sure that that was as much the Hokage's doing as her own strength improving.

The emerald eyed girl slipped silently through the crowd and up to the front of the Academy, taking a moment to look at the different targets on the field surrounding the Academy before she entered it and slid the door closed behind herself. Padding along the hallway the girl made little noise, passing adults and other students until she made it to her classroom, sliding the door open slightly before slipping inside. There wasn't any other students in the room but Iruka was stood at the front, sorting through papers.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei," The girl said softly, nodding towards him before taking her customary seat at the back of the classroom, keeping her head down against the desk – all in all it looked as if she was sleeping.

"Morning Sakura-chan," The man replied gently, "The final test is today. I'm sure you'll pass this time, Mizuki is going to be the other sensei for the test."

"Hai," The pink haired girl nodded after a moment, she didn't want to fail Iruka again after all that he had done for her over the years. This time the other judge wouldn't be able to find something to fail her on.

The rest of the pink haired girl's class slowly arrived, with the last entrant to the room being the loud and obnoxious Uzumaki Naruto. The boy was always trying to get Sakura to talk to him, even when she made it quite clear that it wasn't welcome and she wasn't interested. However that morning she was saved from the senseless chatter by Iruka, who called the call to attention.

"Settle down," The brunette sensei yelled loudly, finally getting the attention of the students scattered around the room, "Sit down now and I'll explain how this final exam is going to work."

A hush went over all the students, most of whom quickly sat themselves down in the nearest open seat and turned their attention onto Iruka, who stood at the front of the room rubbing the back of his neck as he looked around himself. "Right..." He trailed off for a moment before clearing his throat and beginning again, "One by one you'll be called forward into this room-" He pointed behind himself to the sliding door "-And you'll be asked to execute a Ninjutsu that you've all been taught... the bunshin ninjutsu."

Sakura heard people around the room groan, though she had to smile because the bunshin ninjutsu was one of the first that she had mastered when she still living within the Hokage's protected home after her eighth birthday. She had found a room where scrolls were kept, but she wasn't allowed to look inside at the time and so she had snuck back later that night with the intention to look at the scrolls. The girl had only managed to memorise the first technique on the scroll before she was found by the Hokage and punished for sneaking away, but ever since that say she had worked on the jutsu – making it and the similar form of the jutsu easier for her to perform.

"You'll be alright Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, slapping the girl lightly on the shoulder, knocking her out of her thoughts and causing her to turn towards the boy.

"What?" The pink haired girl asked in a daze, looking into the deep blue eyes in front of her.

"Your name has just been called." Naruto murmured softly, waiting for her to stand up, "Good luck."

"I won't be needing it." The pink haired girl replied stiffly. Standing quickly she gracefully made her way from the back of the classroom to the front, weaving her way between excited students and desks alike, making sure not to hit anyone of them on the way past.

Sliding the door open and closed behind herself smoothly the girl turned and looked towards the front of the spare classroom; sat behind a desk was the brown haired Iruka and the blue haired Mizuki. Iruka's hitai-ate lay proudly over the man's forehead, the metal engraved with the leaf symbol shining in the light as it streamed through the windows.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei," The girl nodded to both men before standing in front of their desk, waiting for her orders.

"Good morning Sakura," Iruka said softly, a smile spreading over the man's lips for a moment as he looked over his prize student – she might not be the best in the year, that right was reserved for Uchiha Sasuke, but that was only because she didn't allow her abilities to truly shine – but nevertheless the girl was Iruka's favourite, just for the reason that she never let anything get to her.

"Sakura, to pass this final exam at the Academy, as you've been told that you are going to have to execute the Bunshin no jutsu, we would like you to form two or more clones of yourself, though one good clone will enable you to pass... just." Mizuki said, crossing his arms over his chest and staring coldly at the pink haired girl.

"Hai Sensei." Sakura closed her eyes for a moment forming the seal for the tiger, whispering the words of the jutsu's name quickly under her breath. Moulding the chakra in her mind as she executed the jutsu, feeling a slight ripping sensation passing over her body before she opened her eyes and saw that the room was filled with multiple Sakuras, all of them perfect clones of herself.

"There are over ten clones..." Iruka marvelled, staring at the girl, and nodding his head, "Very impressive Sakura."

"Arigato Sensei." The pink haired girl beamed, sharing one of the rare smiles that she had with Iruka before turning her gaze onto that of Mizuki.

"Yes, very impressive." He murmured softly, "She passes."

The man's face scrunched up like the words were distasteful for him, but still he nodded towards the brunette sat next to him. Iruka's face lit up taking one of the hitai-ate that were sat on the table in front of where he and his other judge were sitting and handed it to the pink haired girl. "This is yours now Sakura, this is proof that you have passed the test to become a genin of the hidden village of the leaf. Congratulations." The man walked forward, pressing the metal forehead protector into the girl's hands and clasping his own over her's.

The pink haired girl looked at the hitai-ate in her hands and a lump formed in her throat, she hadn't been expecting to pass when she came to the exam, she had been expecting to be humiliated and thrown out of the room with the judges laughing at her for being a failure. "Thank you Iruka-sensei," The girl whispered softly, bowing once to him before turning quickly and slipping back out of the sliding door, ducking under the rest of her classmates view as she made her way back to the seat which is had claimed as her own.

Iruka smiled softly at the girl as she left, thinking a soft "_You're welcome_." before calling the next student into the room.

One by one the students went into the room as Academy students and came out of it as perspective genin shinobi. The pink haired girl slipped her hitai-ate into her hair as a headband, feeling the slight weight on top of her head causing her to smile brightly at the feeling.

"Alright class!" Iruka called out loudly, laughing at the amount of chatter that the class had erupted into over the course of the day, "Settle down and I'll give you all the information that you need for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Naruto asked loudly, looking quizzically at the academy teacher, "What's happening tomorrow."

"Good question Naruto, sit down and I'll tell you." Iruka replied, raising his eyebrow at the boy before shaking his head and beginning to speak. "Tomorrow is the day that those of you who have passed meet their jounin teachers and get acquainted with them. Please be here before nine am, that is all. You are released for the day."

"Hai sensei!" Most of the class chorused loudly, nodding at their teacher before rushing out of the doorway. Probably to their parents to tell them that they passed the examination, Sakura bit down on her bottom lip painfully as she watched the parents congratulating their children and the other kids laughing with one another.

The girl silently walked past a few of the adults, her keen ears easily picking up their conversations even though they weren't meant for her to hear. "I can't believe _she_ passed. I mean come on, she's-" Then the woman was cut off by her conversation partner who reminded her that they were forbidden to speak about whatever she had been about to say.

The emerald eyed girl slipped silently through the crowd of students and adults, her feet barely making the dust on the streets move as she padded softly along the ground, the placement of her feet barely thought about but done in such a way that she was barely noticed. Darting out of the way of the villagers as she passed them the girl sped through the deserted back alleys and through the crowded main roads before she burst out of the centre of the village, making it back to the outskirts of the actual town and into the training grounds in the surrounding area.

There were some training grounds that had been claimed by specific teams but most of them were left to nature the rest of the time. The pastel pink haired girl slowed her pace as she arrived at the path that led to her usual training area, preferring to spend that day in training instead of at her home – with the friends that she didn't have and the memories that haunted her.

Hours later sweat dripped down the girl's body, running over the scraps that she had accumulated throughout the day, blood trickling down from the bigger cuts that had been endured in favour of continuing to train. One of the places that had remained untouched by the flames of her eighth birthday had been the Haruno's knowledge vaults where they had kept the scrolls that documented various jutsu and abilities that they had seen or used. When Sakura had returned to the compound the Hokage had given her permission to use the library as she saw fit – seen as she was going to become a shinobi he hadn't felt like there was a problem.

For the last couple of days that emerald eyed girl had been subjecting her body to a gruelling schedule in hopes of mastering one of the abilities that had been talked about in one of the technique scrolls that she had found. The technique was an improvement upon the bunshin jutsu that the genin had to use to pass the test for advancement however instead of an image of the user the kage bunshin no jutsu would actually create a physical clone of the user meaning that the bunshin would be able to use jutsu and learn like the user would. Trying to perfect the kage bunshin no jutsu had allowed Sakura to improve her technique with the less complex bunshin no jutsu, before that technique had been one of her weakest.

Panting the girl looked up at the sky; watching as the clouds themselves seemed to darken as the sun disappeared under the horizon making it glow brightly for a short while before the inky blackness fell in the sun's place.

Idly scanning the sky the pale girl's bright eyes picked out the shape of someone fleeing through the forest with a large scroll attached to their back – she had seen that scroll before. It was the forbidden scroll of sealing that was kept within the Hokage tower; there was no reason that someone would be allowed to open it, for no reason would that same scroll leave the Hokage's tower unless it had been stolen.

The girl sprang up onto her feet, her pink hair flying around her face as she quickly darted out into the forest, following the direction that the man had been travelling it, hoping that she could meet with him before he managed to get too far away from her.

"Faster..." She urged herself as she barrelled silently through the trees, spotting the figure in front of her. He was going at a leisurely pace, as if he had all the confidence in the world that he would not be caught, "Faster."

Springing out of the trees barely five feet away from the man the girl gripped the scroll and tore it off his back, swinging it around her shoulders in one move and darting away from the man again before he managed to get a grip on her or the situation. Disappearing behind a tree the girl panted softly, not enough to allow the man to pinpoint her location based on how hard she was breathing, looking around the tree the girl could see that the man had shoulder length light blue hair that was allowed to fall around his shoulders completely free. "Mizuki..." She breathed lightly, surprised by the man – but not entirely by the fact that he had stolen one of the Hokage's scrolls.

"Whose there?" The man called out loudly, peering into the forest around himself. "Where are you?"

Sakura didn't say a word as she watched the man, trying to work out what he had done, her arms locked around the scroll keeping it close to her.

"How did they find me so soon? I made sure that none of them would be able to tell anyone..." The man murmured softly to himself cursing his luck as he scanned the surrounding area for the person that took the scroll off him.

Sakura growled softly at the thought of the man disposing of the shinobi stationed in the Hokage tower, obviously he had just been binding his time before he took the opportunity to steal the scroll. "Bastard..." She murmured under her breath before jumping off the tree branch that she was sat on and out into the forest away from the man.

The bark slapped against the soles of her sandals just loud enough to be heard, Mizuki's head snapped around to look at the direction that she was fleeing – back towards the city and caught a glimpse of soft pastel pink hair as it whipped around her head in shaggy long locks.

"The Kyuubi no Youku bastard child." The man muttered angrily, clenching his fist before quickly following the girl.

Sakura's hair whipped around her head, covering her eyes for moments before the air resistance on her face ripped it out of her field of vision again. Every couple of moments the girl turned and looked behind herself, trying to spot where the man was – he flitted in and out of her sight, sometimes appearing from behind trees that blocked her path and forcing her to dart in yet another direction – always circling back towards the village.

"You know what I'll tell them?" He asked loudly, calling out to her as he chased her. He waited for her to answer before releasing that she wasn't going to, "I'll tell them that you stole the scroll that I chased you down and recovered it. No one will suspect that it was actually me, and they won't believe you because of what you are!"

Sakura closed her eyes and bit down on her bottom lip as those words reached her ears. She knew that what he said was true, they would be more likely to believe that she stole the scroll than he did – because she was killer, and he was a respected chunnin academy teacher. The pink haired girl wondered if Iruka would believe that she didn't do it, and if the Hokage would give her a second chance to prove herself afterwards, but the girl never stopped pumping her legs powerfully darting between the trees and through gaps that the older man would be able to travel, trying to fool him and escape him.

"You're not going to get away from me," The man cried out loudly, "I'll get you fox bitch, and I'll make you pay!"

Mizuki stopped suddenly in the middle of a large clearing. He knew that the girl that he was chasing stopped, the sound of her footsteps faded out to nothing and the air was filled by his heavy breathing. "Do you know why so many people hate you?"

Shaking her head the girl breathed as evenly and as deeply as she could, keeping her eyes locked on Mizuki from her hiding place.

"Do you know why so many people have tried to kill you?" The man taunted, "It's because they hate you."

"I know they do." The girl whispered under her breath, biting down on her bottom lip hard.

"It's because they think that you are evil. Do you know the story behind the fourth Hokage's death, do you?"

"Of course I do." The girl replied to herself, every child in the village knew of the Kyuubi's attack on Konohagakure, and the fact that the fourth Hokage gave his life to protect the village and it's people.

"They hate you because-"

"STOP!"

A loud powerful voice cried out from the trees causing both Mizuki and Sakura's heads to snap round towards where the voice had come from. Mizuki's eyes narrowed as he took in the form of his chunnin academy partner – at the leaves that were stuck in his hair and the dirt marks on the folds of his pants. "Don't say it!" Iruka yelled loudly, his voice sending a power wave of happiness through Sakura. He knew that he would believe her, he trusted her.

"You have no right to tell her." Iruka carried on, walking forward into the clearing and standing opposite the man. Unconsciously putting himself between Sakura and Mizuki, effectively blocking her from the other man.

"They hate you because the Fourth didn't kill the demon fox. He imprisoned it." Mizuki sneered at the other man. "He sealed the beast inside you, you're its prison, and you are becoming it. That's why so many people want you dead – because if they kill you then they think that they are going to have killed the beast." Mizuki laughed loudly before carrying on again, "Even Iruka hates you."

"Stop!" The brown haired man begging, crying out for Mizuki to stop.

"You killed his parents, his entire family and left him an orphan. He wants you dead as much as the other villagers." Mizuki sneered, his eyes darting over to the tree that Sakura was hidden behind as she gasped loudly enough for him to hear.

Reaching behind himself the light blue haired man took a large Fuuma shuriken from the holster he had attached to his back and sent it soaring towards the girl with enough power behind it to send it through the tree that she was hiding behind and then through Sakura's body.

The emerald eyed girl's face went pale as she watched the shuriken heading towards her, she couldn't move a muscle in her body as she watched it approaching. In slow motion the girl's eyes followed Iruka as he leap in front of her and covered her body with his own, the shuriken lodging in his back causing him to cry out loudly with pain.

"Why?" She asked softly, touching the man's shoulders looking at the shuriken that was buried underneath his skin. "Why?"

"Because he was lying." Iruka replied, tears running down his face, dripping down onto her chin and mixing with the blood that was on her skin from him, "There was a time that I hated you. But then I understood – you are not the demon, you are a hero because you house the demon, you lock it away. I saw you, friendless and family-less and I pitied you... and I saw myself where you were."

"Sensei?" The girl asked, tears collecting in her own eyes as she looked at him. "What are you saying?"

"I... I saw you like I was, and I couldn't hate you. I wanted to protect you and show you that no matter what the other villagers think there are people that love you, and that want to be your friend. I wanted to show you that the world wasn't all dark." The man coughed harshly, blood seeping out from between his closed lips as he talked to the pink haired girl laying beneath him.

"Iruka-sensei..."

"Pathetic Iruka. Can't you see she's everything that the villagers fear that she is? She the demon!" Mizuki yelled, glaring down at the bloodied form of Iruka, protecting the scared pink haired young girl.

"She's not a demon." The brunette growled softly, speaking more to Sakura than to Mizuki, "She's not."

"If that's what you believe I might as well put you out of your misery now." The man laughed cruelling before taking out another of his fuuma shuriken and unleashing it in the direction of the prone girl and her protector.

Blindly acting on instinct the emerald eyed girl knocked her sensei out of the way of the shuriken and dodged it's path, darting across the soft earth towards the other man the girl drew a kunai and held it tightly in her clenched fist. "You won't hurt Iruka-sensei again!" She vowed, making a slashing motion with the kunai, managing to dig it into the man's shoulder when she struck.

The next few hours were a blur for both Iruka and Sakura, but by the end of it they were sat next to one another in the chunnin's favourite restaurant, ordering ramen to eat together. Sakura was smiling brightly, even as Iruka's hand came up and ruffled her hair – the Konoha hitai-ate sitting proudly in her hair as a symbol of the man's belief in her.


	3. Forming Bonds

**Author's Note: Please read and review, this is the first time I've made a foray into the world of Naruto. Please tell me if there is anything that isn't working, or if you have any constructive criticism, it would be greatly appreciated. :D**

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Chapter Three: Forming Bonds.

A light breeze blew through the leaves of the trees surrounding the emerald eyed girls home, the leaves twisting almost as if they were dancing with the light rush of air before settling down again, only to be blown in another direction as the wind swirled. The wind rushed through the gaps between the houses that belonged to the Haruno compound making it seem like the buildings were moaning because of their disuse and neglect.

The pink haired girl lay on her bed, idly staring out of the floor length window that led out onto her balcony. The moon was high in the sky casting a strange light over the world beneath it but the girl preferred it that way, she watched the clouds drifting over the horizon and the birds that flew through the inky blackness of the night sky. Many times before she had laid awake long into the night just watching as the world revolved around her; drifting into the background to where nothing about her life mattered and she could see that she was just a little piece of something much bigger that surrounded and engulfed both her and the village.

Tomorrow would bring a new start for the pink haired girl.

She had passed the final exam the day before at the academy and now she was eligible to become a Genin. Two days ago she thought that she would never be allowed to pass the exam, but yet she had managed to and the hitai-ate that sat proudly in her hair was the proof of that. A pale hand reached up, fingers combing through short locks of pastel pink hair, fingertips stroking over the fine cotton straps that held the metal faceplate of the hitai-ate.

Eyes slid closed on the darkness, waiting for the sunlight to come and the next day to dawn.

Light burst through the darkness momentarily blinding the eyes that snapped open, a pained gasp was torn out of the girl's mouth even as she twisted away from the bright light, her eyes closed against it again. The emerald eyes that belonged to the pink haired occupant of the bed blinked for a few moments before they were able to focus on their surrounding again. Turning her head while still remaining in the protective embrace of the shadows the girl looked out of the window towards where the sun was rising behind her. "Morning..." She whispered softly, a gleam coming to her eyes when she remembered what the morning had brought.

A pale hand trembled as it went up to her hair and felt the cool touch of the headband proudly sitting on the top of her hair holding it back from her face. "I passed." She whispered in wonder – half of her had expected to wake up that morning and reach for the headband only for it to be gone like the day before had been a dream, but it was still there.

The girl's legs slipped off the side of the bed, bare soles touching the cold floor sending a shiver up to her spine; bare soles walked across the varnished surface softly, barely touching the coolness of the wood before they were lifted up again until the girl stood in front of the wardrobe. Pale hands grasped the door handle and pulled the heavy doors open slowly.

The pink haired girl cocked her head to the side as she considered what she was going to wear before pulling out the same mesh under-top that she had worn the day before along with her brother's shirt. Throwing them onto the chair beside the mirror the girl picked up the black under-shorts and the black baggy shorts that would be worn over them. "To honour my brother..." The girl whispered softly, running her fingers along the soft fabric of the t-shirt.

Tugging the clothes onto her slight frame the girl's fingertips ran over the scars that littered her body, reminders of times when her life had been harder than it was now – the burn scars that curled over her hip slightly from when her house burned down and the slash across her stomach.

Half an hour later the girl slipped out of her window, dropping down the two stories down to the ground; a small dust cloud forming around her feet from the dust that she had stirred up by landing. The day before the rain clouds that the girl had spotted had fizzled out over the course of the day, cursing the city to yet another day without rain.

The pink haired girl padded down the road that lead through the centre of the Haruno Compound, her eyes glancing over at the empty houses, the houses that hadn't been lived in for over four years. The houses that were only half standing, the scars from the flames that licked across their outsides, support beams that barely remained upright. The girl's eyes scanned over the remains of her compound just as they did every morning that she walked through it, tears used to come to her eyes when she remembered things that happened but now her eyes were as cold as ice and her face set in a grim frown.

The emerald eyed girl walked slowly through the centre of the village, sliding between gaps in the crowd to make her way through, the people barely glanced down at her before their eyes took on the mask of hatred. The girl kept her head down refusing to meet anyone's eyes as she walked, preferring not to see the hatred that they held and trying not to think about the things that Mizuk had said the day before – about her being a demon.

"Good morning class," Iruka's voice boomed loudly, startling the pink haired girl out of her thoughts. Somehow she had made it all the way into the classroom after losing herself to the thoughts that were flying around her head. "Those of you that passed yesterday's test are going to be meeting your Jonin teachers, those of you that didn't pass will be going outside to practice with the targets."

There was a resounding groan from all the students that had collected in the room, wanting to have the chance to meet an actual Jonin even though they hadn't passed; one by one they trooped out of the sliding door that led to the outdoor training area that the Chunin instructors used for training the academy students in the use of kunai and shuriken. Targets were put up on the trunks of trees and human shaped dummies were also stood in the middle of the area to make sure that the students could strike the areas on the body that would cause the most damage with the least trouble and effort.

The emerald eyed girl could remember days spent in front of those targets, throwing kunai after kunai until her hands were sore and bleeding - the skin on the pads of her fingers grew tough because of the intense training that she did there, many times Iruka had to come out and stop her from training, but she would be back there the next morning before he got to the academy training with the targets again until he gave her permission to go to the academy's training field and practice there, since then that was where she practised.

"As the rest of you know, yesterday you passed the final exam at the academy and therefore I want to congratulate you all on becoming academy graduates, you've done Konoha proud." The brown haired Chunin said, a smile spreading across his lips as he looked around the room at the students that he had helped train for years, among them the Uchiha survivor and the Kyuubi no Youko's jinchuriki. "Today I'm going to pass on your training to some of the most experienced shinobi in all of the Hidden Leaf, treat them with the respect that you've treated me with and I'm sure that you will get along well."

"Hai Sensei," Most of the class replied, almost everyone of them sharing the same happy smile.

"Now, I'm going to give out the assignments for the teams and I hope that you will work together to complete missions and do your best for the village," Iruka's voice boomed in the girl's ears, keeping her attention on what was happening at the front of the classroom, instead of the muttering that was happening at the back of it. "Team One will be..."

Iruka droned on until he made it to Team Seven, a small frown spreading over his lips as he read the name of the instructor but he nodded none the less and called out the names, "Team Seven will be Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto -" The man was interrupted for a moment by a loud cry from Naruto, but the blonde was settled down with a sharp glare from the Chunin, "And the third member will be Haruno Sakura, your Jonin instructor will be Hatake Kakashi."

"I'm stuck with the teme?" Naruto yelled loudly, pointing directly at the raven haired boy, Uchiha Sasuke, who was the other boy on his team. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No, we're not Naruto, you see they liked to even out the abilities on every team to make them roughly the same, and you see, Sasuke is the best student in the entire room, and Sakura is average -" "_Though only because she doesn't let her true potential show..."_ The man thought to himself before continuing, "While you Naruto, regularly post the worst scores in all the tests in the entire class."

"That's a lie!" The hothead boy cried out loudly, glaring at the brown haired Chunin.

"You can look at the score list if you want." The man shrugged continuing to rattle off the teams and who belonged in which.

Knowing which team she was on the pink haired girl turned her attention to the window, gazing through it barely listening to what Iruka was saying as he continued to list names. Hatake Kakashi wasn't one of the Jonin that she had ever come in contact with before but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing - some of the ANBU Special Ops Jonin that the old man had told to guard her when she was younger just after her family died preferred to hound her and not step in when the villagers attacked, though they normally got a very bad reprimand from the Hokage whenever they did that.

"Now that everyone's team are assigned wait here until your Jonin teacher comes to collect you, which I'm sure won't be in too much time." Iruka finished with a smile before exiting the room.

"Aren't you glad we're on the same team Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked loudly, his booming voice pounding into the pink haired girl's ear drum as he spoke.

"Sure," The girl replied softly, turning her head slightly to look at the boy she was stuck with - in the terms of the academy he was nothing special, but he was well liked among the students, and had even tried to befriend Sakura when most of the other students ignored her because their parents told them that she was bad news.

The hours ticked by slowly, one by one teams left with their teachers and the group in the room thinned down, the noise lessening with it, until there was no one but Team Seven still in the room. Naruto paced back and forth in the front of the classroom while Sasuke tapped his fingers on the surface of his desk, only Sakura seemed to be able to remain calm, sitting at the back of the classroom staring peacefully out of the window.

Finally the blonde haired boy couldn't take it any more, taking one of the chalk filled board dusters and a chair he slid the door to the classroom open just enough that he was able to wedge the duster in the gap until it was stuck in place before jumping down from the chair giggling softly at the set up for his prank. "You don't really think that a _Jonin_ is going to fall for that, do you?" Sasuke asked smirking at the blonde from behind his hands.

"Shut up teme," The blonde replied glaring at the other boy.

"Don't you think we should-" The pastel pink haired girl began to say but was stopped when the door started to open.

Time seemed to slow down until everything was happening in slow motion, the duster fell, turning over in the air a total three hundred and sixty degrees before landing on the silver haired man's head softly, bouncing off and tumbling to the ground.

"-try and make a good impression..." The girl mumbled softly staring wide eyed at the man standing in the doorway.

"How should I say this... my first thoughts of you lot are... I don't like any of you." The man said softly, a small smile on his lips - though that was barely visible underneath the cloth mask that he wore over the bottom half of his face. Other than the mask the man was dressed very similarly to the Chunin, though he wore blue pants and a blue jacket underneath the flak jacket, as well as the gloves that he wore on his hands.

"Gomen Sensei." The pink haired girl was the first to react, though Naruto jumped in yelling at the man.

"You're late!"

"So it seems, follow me to the roof." The grey haired man said softly, turning around promptly and walking down the corridor in the direction of the stairs that led to the roof.

Leaning against the metal railing on the roof the man looked at the three children, looked towards the steps that were opposite from where he was standing and waved his hand over to them. "Sit there, and tell me something about yourself."

"Why don't you tell us something about you?" Naruto asked peevishly, staring at the man his eyes narrowed.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, I'm not going to tell you my likes... my dislikes are well, and I don't really have many goals." The man said, practically just telling the three children his name without telling him anything else.

"You didn't tell us anything but your name!" Naruto yelled loudly, glaring at the man.

"You first blondie." Kakashi replied with a smirk on his lips. No matter what he had said before he was actually warming up to these three kids, though that wouldn't be enough to let him pass them if they failed his test.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I love ramen, all types and flavours, but I dislike the three minutes that it takes to cook ramen. I want to become the best shinobi in the village, the Hokage!" Naruto proclaimed loudly, a large goofy grin stretching across his lips as he spoke.

_"Interesting..._" Kakashi thought to himself, "Alright raven haired boy."

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, I don't have many likes, and I don't have many dislikes either. My goal is to kill a certain man and revive my clan."

_"Almost scary, but interesting nonetheless, it wasn't a surprise that they would put the Uchiha on my team, though that's not enough to let me pass them just to train with the Sharingan._" Kakashi pondered silently, before nodding to Sakura. "You now, Pinky."

"Haruno Sakura, I like to train and become stronger, but I dislike people that throw their strength around. My goal is to become a person that the villagers like and accept, and someone who is strong enough to protect the entire village and it's people."

_"So you want to become a hero? Is that it, or is there something else to your comment._" Kakashi wondered, staring at the girl as he thought. "Alright, that's certainly interesting, now, I want the three of you to meet me at the number Seven training ground tomorrow morning at five in the morning, and don't eat breakfast, you'll throw up."

"What are we going to be doing sensei?" The emerald eyed girl asked softly, eyeing the man wondering what he was going on about.

"You're going to be doing survival training, as the last test before becoming true Genin shinobi. If you fail then you are going to be sent back to the academy for another year, as you obviously haven't learnt enough there the first time. This is a hard test to pass with a sixty six percent failure rate." The man replied, the humour that he was feeling showing in his tone as he spoke.

"But what about the final test, what was that about if we have to go through with this one?" Naruto yelled loudly.

"That was just a test to see if you were ready to be tested properly," Kakashi replied, "Training ground seven tomorrow at five, you are released for the rest of the day."

The man disappeared in burst of smoke, the grin on his face visible even under the mask that he wore.

"What the hell was that about?" The blonde member of the team practically growled as he glared at the spot where the man had been standing moments before. "Why didn't they ever tell us that there was another test!"

"A shinobi is expected to expect the unexpected." Sakura murmured under her breath for a moment before turning and heading over to the railing which Kakashi had just disappeared from. "The test is to see if we're good enough to be sent on missions for the village, after all we will be representing the village."

"But why do they have to have another test, haven't they already tested us enough!" Naruto moaned softly, shaking his head and groaning.

"Obviously not enough from their point of view." Sasuke added, opening his mouth for the first time to directly speak with team-mates. "I suggest that we just make sure we pass, I certainly don't want to be thrown back to the academy."

The pink haired girl considered the raven haired boy's word for a moment, there was obviously a reason that Kakashi told them about the test after they had been put in teams. Something about the fact that it hadn't been mentioned before, neither the teams or the test got the emerald eyed girl thinking but she couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what it was that was bothering her. Just as the other two members of Team Seven turned to walk away the girl lifted her head and called out to them, her voice cracking slightly because it was so unused to being used to call loudly to someone. "Guys!"

"Yes Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked turning his head to regard the girl, his bright blue eyes shining with warmth for the pink haired girl.

"I think that the test is meant to test know well we work together as a team... that is after all what shinobi do. We've just been split off into teams, that are meant to be balanced - we all know each other's strengths and weaknesses, but we've never worked closely together." The girl said quickly, a light blush making it's way onto her cheeks as she spoke, unused to speaking to others.

Sasuke tilted his head to the side for a moment, considering the girl's words before he nodded, "That would actually make sense, so the test is going to be something that tries to pit us against each other?" He pondered aloud, Naruto switching back and forth between the raven haired boy and the girl.

"Probably... something that means we have to put the interests of the team, above those of the individual. Something like that." The girl shook her head, "I don't really know... but we have to remember to work together."

"Hn, if you hold me back you'll be left behind." The raven haired boy replied nodding his head to the two other members of his team and walking away.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, I'm sure that we'll pass if you and me work together..." The boy blushed a dark red for a moment before he coughed clearing his throat and looking towards the girl, "Do you want to come and maybe... have lunch with me?"

"Sure.." Sakura replied, a small smile working it's way onto her lips even though she didn't want it to be there, if she was going to work with Naruto, then she might as well get to know him a little better - he had been nothing but kind to her in the best as well.

"Alright!" The boy yelled happily, coughing again when he noticed the girl chuckling softly before laughing loudly, inviting the other girl to join in with him. Minutes later the two were able to breathe again, and smiles were locked onto their lips, "So wanna go to the ramen place, it's really good!"

"Sure..." The pink haired girl answered softly, a small smile staying on her lips as she walked towards the other boy. "I'd be glad to."

Unknown to the three young members of Team Seven their sensei stood on the roof of a building that overlooked the academy, a small smile crossing his lips as he watched them interacting - first the girl had figured out the meaning behind the test, and then the three of them had agreed to work together because no matter what Sasuke said, he had no intention of not working with the other two, and now Naruto was treating Sakura to lunch, and they were laughing together. The silver haired man nodded his head slowly, before walking away from the two young children, the thought going through his head that he might actually grow to like this team - if they passed.

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**Author's Note: I decided that the Sakura in my story was going to be a little more intelligent than the one in the actual anime, and I thought that she would be able to put the clues together about the final test, though Sasuke is still going to be as arrogant as ever. :D**


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